the tribe and fought to the death rather than face this journey into the unknown. But Leyloni had to keep going, she had to ensure that her people had a chance to live on through herself and Serek.
She stepped into the cavern. Arysteon was no longer near the entrance, but he was impossible to miss. He had moved to the far side of the fire, and his scales gleamed in its light, granting him an otherworldly beauty.
Serek crawled with delighted determination toward the spiky end of Arysteon’s tail. Just as the baby reached for his target, Arysteon lifted it away, triggering fresh laughter from Serek.
The dragon shifted a little farther away from Serek and laid his tail in wait again.
The sight of them playing and the sound of Arysteon’s rumbling chuckles blending with Serek’s squealing laughs chased away Leyloni’s sadness and warmed her heart. She watched, silent and smiling, as the slow chase continued in a wide circle around the fire, unable to ignore the joy that shone in the dragon’s bright eyes.
She walked to the fire, where she laid out the wet diaper cloth to dry. Removing her waterskin from her bag, she set it aside and turned to the branches Arysteon had brought, plucking a couple of the ripest looking sunfruits and placing them down beside the waterskin.
Leyloni glanced up at Arysteon, whose eyes met hers. For an instant, there was a heat in his gaze like she had never seen, but it was not the sort of heat that inspired fear—instead, it sent a pulse of desire straight to her core.
His eyes swung away, breaking that brief spell, and he lifted his tail, narrowly avoiding Serek’s thrusting hand.
“I suppose I ought not to let my guard down with you, little hatchling,” he said with a chuckle, resuming his slow journey around the fire.
Leyloni stared at him, dumbfounded. Had she truly seen that fire in his eyes, or had she imagined it?
It…it must have been my imagination. Why would he look at me like a male lusting for a female? He is a dragon, and I am human.
It is simply exhaustion. One night of sound sleep was not enough.
She was still tired, both physically and emotionally, and it was causing her to see things that weren’t there—that was the only explanation. The heat in his eyes had merely been a trick of the fire light, a matter of the way his head had been angled…
But what of her body’s reaction to him?
Serek’s delighted laughter shattered her thoughts, which she gratefully shoved aside to focus on the game the baby and the dragon were playing.
In the wake of all that had happened, all the suffering, pain, and death she and Serek had endured over the last several days, this little bit of innocent joy was exactly what she needed. It could not erase her pain, but it could outshine it for a little while.
Of all the things she might have anticipated happening on this journey, encountering a friendly dragon who was willing to play games with a baby would never have been one of them.
Leyloni grinned as she sat down, drew her knife from her belt—which was still on the floor—and set to carving the sunfruit. Before long, her cheeks were warm and aching. She pressed her lips together, trying to suppress the grin, but it wouldn’t go away.
She waited until Arysteon led Serek close before plucking the baby off the floor and drawing him onto her lap. He wriggled for a moment, and it broke her heart to hear him cry in his desperation to reach Arysteon again, but he quickly settled when she handed him a slice of sunfruit.
Arysteon moved to the opposite side of the fire and lay down, keeping his head raised but stretching his body out. The end of his tail was lost in the shadows.
Leyloni picked up another slice of fruit for herself. They wouldn’t be able to live off sunfruit alone—and it seemed only to strengthen her hunger rather than satisfy it—but it was something. It would at least sustain her long enough to hunt for something more substantial when the weather was favorable.
“Is there are certain place you intend to travel, Leyloni,” Arysteon said, breaking the relative silence, “or was your only goal escape?”
His question came just as she bit into the soft, spongy flesh of the sunfruit. Leyloni dipped her head, catching the juice dripping down her chin with the back of her hand. She chewed slowly, torn on whether